Computer networks are now permanently hackable; have fun with that

Just about all computerised devices on the planet, from wrist-worn step-tracking gadgets to supercomputers that crunch US intelligence data, participate in a complex supply chain honed over decades. — Dreamstime/TNS

Please read the blockbuster Bloomberg Businessweek report about US investigations into a digital attack that involved planting snooping devices in essential parts for powerful computers used by Amazon, Apple, the US government and other important organisations. The reporting highlights the grave risk of a bedrock element of technology: the sprawling, interconnected and global nature of computing.

Just about all computerised devices on the planet, from wrist-worn step-tracking gadgets to supercomputers that crunch US intelligence data, participate in a complex supply chain honed over decades. Tiny circuits, pieces of glass, wiring, computer chips and many more parts are designed, built, combined, recombined and retrofitted in multiple steps by multiple companies, contractors and subcontractors in multiple countries.